


Climbing to a Greater Height

by saekhwa



Category: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) - Fandom
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Chinese Character, Female Character of Color, Female Friendship, Female-Centric, Fix-It, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, In which Jubilee is part of the final battle because she should've been there, POV Character of Color, POV Female Character, X-Men: Apocalypse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 11:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7100653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saekhwa/pseuds/saekhwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even before Mystique's speech, Jubilee knows being scared isn't a bad thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Climbing to a Greater Height

**Author's Note:**

> I'm tired of my peeps getting the shaft in these movies, ya'll. 
> 
> Beta credit and a million thanks to Moriavis.

Jubilee's first thought: whoa. 

She stares at what used to be their school, parts of the smoking black wreckage still on fire. Deep down, where she'll never admit it to anyone ever, she wonders if Jean somehow snuffed it out. Everyone knows what Jean's capable of, so Jubilee only feels a little guilty. 

She lurches forward when the car jerks, because Scott barely puts on the brakes before he's falling out, running toward the crowd that Jubilee's grateful to see. Just the thought of them being in the school when— It makes her sick. 

"What happened?" Scott asks. "Where's Alex? Where's my brother?"

Jubilee scans the crowd, and the sinking feeling in her stomach grows and grows, because she doesn't see him. 

Some guy she's never seen before says, "Pretty sure I got everybody," with a shrug, completely unaffected by the fact that maybe that's not true and worse, maybe that someone died in there. 

Scott bolts, running straight for the school, Jean following right behind him. Jubilee and Kurt share a look. Kurt's confused, but Jubilee knows they've come this far, even if this far was only a few miles from the mall. She turns to go after them, and Kurt follows, too. 

Jubilee's a lot more careful, though, because parts of what's left of the school are on fire, the ground hot beneath them. She can feel it through her sneakers. What leaves her cold, her throat so tight that she doesn't think she can even breathe, is the sight of the giant hole in the ground. It's not just that the school burned down. It's gone. Completely wiped out. 

She stares, wide-eyed, squeezing Kurt's hand, because he's the safest option if something wild happens like her foot slips and she falls thousands and thousands of feet. None of that is accurate, because she can totally see the bottom, the scorched, black earth, but her heart races from looking that far down, and she's convinced that it's thousands and thousands of feet that can make her just as dead as Alex. 

She retreats several steps, nearly tripping over the debris. Kurt catches her, and she straightens, even though her legs want to give out on her. She wraps her arms tightly around her, trying to take slow, deep breaths, but the hole in front of her grows larger and larger in her imagination until her ears ring. 

"Someone's coming," Jean says. Jubilee looks up, trying to see what Jean sees. "We have to hide."

Kurt doesn't know any better. He says, "But—"

Jubilee grabs his arm and tugs him along. "Do what the telepath says," she whispers. 

They huddle behind a large stone slab, and Jubilee tries to gesture at Jean to watch her hair, because there's a burning pole right next to her head. Then Jubilee sees the helicopter and the soldiers and especially their guns. She wants to shout for everyone to run and hide, but it's too late. The soldiers pull out their guns, and everyone falls to the ground. 

Jubilee ducks down, clamping both hands over her mouth to smother her gasp. She squeezes her eyes shut, because Alex is dead and now, everyone else is, too. When Scott, Jean, and Kurt finally drop closer to the ground, Jubilee just knows they've been caught. They're going to die, because those soldiers are here to kill them and go figure, no one learns from history. 

The soldier looks right at them but doesn't shoot them. Jubilee glances at Jean, who has two fingers pressed to her forehead, something she totally picked up from Professor X. Whatever she's doing is working, but Jubilee keeps her hands pressed to her mouth. 

When the soldier walks away, instead of running to safety, Scott says, "We gotta help them." For a second, all Jubilee can do is stare at him. "Kurt, can you get us in there?"

"Are you _nuts_?" Jubilee hisses, glad Kurt didn't just bamf them in there, because Scott, who is obviously so painfully new to _life_ , told him to. 

"Don't worry, they won't see us," Jean says, staring straight at Jubilee. "Trust me."

Jubilee really, really doesn't trust any plan that involves going with the people who murdered kids, but when she looks at Kurt, she knows they're going to drag him along, and she's not going to let them leave her behind, even if their plan is really dumb. 

"I'm going with you."

"Jubilee," Jean says. 

Jubilee sets her jaw, narrows her eyes at Jean, and then removes her hoop earrings, shoving them into her pocket. "I'm going with."

Jean nods, but Jubilee's the first person to grab Kurt's arm. Then bamf. 

She hasn't even opened her eyes yet, and she's dizzy, her stomach clenching so hard that she feels like she might hurl. When she opens her eyes, the room they're in tilts, and Jubilee grabs for something, anything, but there's only smooth wall. 

Then she almost totally loses it, because that is most definitely Mystique and like. She's _famous_. 

Jubilee doesn't have a chance to enjoy it, because Jean's and Scott's absolutely terrible plan means they can't get off the freaking helicopter. 

~*~

They get off the freaking helicopter without getting shot or captured. As they wander the halls, trying to figure out how to save everyone else and themselves, Jubilee hears Professor X in her head. 

"Whoa," she whispers, leaning against the wall. 

_"You have lost your way."_

Her eyes widen, and she whirls on Jean, but Jean's not a good person to ask, so she turns to Kurt. "Did you…?"

"Shhh," Jean says, swiping her hand through the air. 

Jubilee glares but shuts up, because she knows that's Professor X. He sounds weird, though. The whole message is weird, except for the very, very end. It gives Jubilee a tiny bit of hope. 

She still asks, "What is going on?" Mostly to herself, because Jean still has that distant look in her eyes like she's tuned really deep into someone's head.

"He just spoke to me." 

"No duh," Jubilee mutters under her breath. 

"I think he spoke to everyone," Scott says. 

"No." Jean shakes her head. "No, he sent me a hidden message." 

Then Jean looks at everyone, and at this point, Jubilee knows what that look means. 

What it should _not_ mean is freeing whatever the heck is rattling around in that box. It sounds scary and big, and even if it's a mutant, it's been locked up like that for a reason. Jubilee really feels totally bad for it, but her goal is to not be murdered by _anything_ , human _or_ mutant. Jean doesn't consult anyone, though, and even if she had, Scott would probably agree with her. Jubilee wants a different team, like maybe if they save the adults, someone will think things through. That might be a little hypocritical since they pretty much stole a car and went to the mall, but Jubilee's allowed to have regrets after the fact. 

~*~

They're alive. It's a miracle, and one that Jubilee's going to be totally grateful for, assuming any of them survive this, even with Mystique on their side. Kurt, too, because he saved them from the crashing plane by bamfing them down to the ground, where they're not even a tiny bit safer. 

Jubilee's glad she took off her earrings, because they go flying. Everyone who's wearing metal anything gets it ripped from their suits—necklaces, rings, hair ties. 

She shields her eyes, but it doesn't help, because they're in the middle of a sandstorm with a hurricane in the distance and…snow?

Kurt grabs them, one by one, and bamfs them closer to the pyramid, and Jubilee really, really hates traveling with Kurt. She doesn't even have time to feel steady when a rad dude with wicked metal wings starts throwing knives at them. Hank tells Kurt to go, and then they're running for their lives, separating, even though Jubilee doesn't mean to. 

She stops to get her bearings, her back against a wall, and she thinks Kurt's bamfing is making her sicker than she realizes, because it feels like the ground is rolling. Jubilee peers around the corner to see that it _is_ rolling. She watches it crack apart like someone taking a sheet of paper and ripping it in half. A woman appears from the sky, with white hair and white eyes, holding literal lightning in her palms. It's rad, but Jubilee wishes they were on the same side of this as she runs to dodge that blast of lightning. 

Jubilee slides into another building and remembers what a terrible idea that is, because the earthquake shakes the ground again, and she barely has a chance to jump when it starts breaking apart beneath her. She rolls onto her back and blindly throws her fireworks up. 

She's pretty sure she didn't hit anything or anyone, but it buys her a few seconds to scramble back to her feet and sprint toward the pyramid, where she knows Kurt and Professor X are. It's the only plan she's got right now. She trips—or is flung off her feet—the ground rolling beneath her again. 

Without even thinking, Jubilee hurls her fireworks, this time in a stream of lights and power. Bullseye! Jubilee jumps to her feet and watches the girl's lightning slam into the ground as she falls with it. The girl's shielding her eyes, so Jubilee concentrates on making her fireworks bigger, brighter, and badder. There's so much going on all at once, though—the ground still shaking, the burst of cold that stiffens Jubilee's fingertips. 

Jubilee flies backward, slamming against something so hard that her breath whooshes out of her. She wheezes, struggling to inhale, and when she finally sucks in that breath she needs, it's only to choke on the sand whipping up into another fierce storm around her. 

Using her arm to cover her eyes, she raises her left hand and throws her fireworks out in a wide arc, spinning in a circle until the sandstorm dies down. 

"Jubilee!" 

She's never been more relieved to hear Kurt as she reaches out. His hand closes around hers and then bamf. They land on something soft, and Jubilee furiously rubs her eyes to try and get the grit out of it. 

Her timing is totally perfect, because when she gets her sight back, it's just in time to see the wall fly away. Like what can any of them even do to stop that? Even Professor X looks haggard from the fight, and it freaks Jubilee out, because also where did his hair go? Were they all going to go bald? Like if they actually survived any of this?

"I won't stand idly by—" 

Professor X doesn't get a chance to finish, because everyone starts talking over him. The snippets that are loud and clear come from Mr. McCoy and Moira. 

Mr. McCoy says, "You can't."

Moira says, "If he gets you, it's over. It's done. For all of us."

They have to fight. Even Jubilee knows that. So she stands, even though her legs are shaking. She can be honest. Her whole body shakes, but she takes those unsteady steps to the edge of where the wall used to be. She sees Mystique being choked, but Mystique wraps her legs around Apocalypse's neck, twisting her body to escape his grasp. He falls, but he doesn't stay down, even when Mystique kicks him in the face, even when Magneto starts hurling what looks like rocks but has to be metal objects at Apocalypse after Apocalypse flings Mystique out of the way. Even when the white-haired girl turns her power, hitting Apocalypse with lightning strike after lightning strike, breaking apart the earth beneath him. 

Jubilee swallows, her throat dry. It feels like sand on her tongue, but she takes a breath anyway. It's a mistake, because she wastes five minutes in a coughing fit while the world is ending. It'll make a totally embarrassing story if they all survive this. So when Jubilee straightens, her throat and lungs and eyes still burning, she throws everything she's got at the grody buzzkill below. 

He doesn't stop attacking them, but at least he's not going after Professor X, who begs them for their help. 

_It's okay, Professor_ , Jubilee thinks, and reaches deep down, trying to find the source of her power, of what gives her the ability to create fireworks that can blind or burn. 

Jubilee notices Jean out of the corners of her eyes and tries to warn her about the thin plank she's trying to walk on. She reaches out to grab Jean, still aiming one hand at Apocalypse. Jean turns and smiles at her, hair flying in a halo of fire. 

Jubilee draws her hand back and extends it toward Apocalypse, focusing her power, just like Jean is. They're ripping him apart, and Jubilee watches his skin flake off like ash, burning down until, like everyone else, she has to shield her eyes and hope they haven't burned each other alive trying to stop him. 

~*~

Jubilee's glad she's not the only one who's shaking. Jean's hunched in her chair, staring hard at the floor, but Jubilee can see the shine of tears in her eyes. Jubilee feels like she's going to cry, too, even though she's not sad. She's upset and she's…tired. Exhausted. She may have— No. She killed someone. Or helped Jean do it, which is pretty much like doing it herself. Jubilee thinks she's going to be sick.

She looks at Professor X, whose eyes are shut, and Magneto, who's staring at the professor. There's a lot of new people on the plane with them. 

The white-haired girl shifts closer to Jubilee, and she can't help but stiffen, because they'd been fighting earlier. Jubilee's probably going to be skittish for a while. The girl notices and draws back, and Jubilee blows out a breath, hunching her shoulders, even though she doesn't think there's a reason for her to feel bad. Like she could have died in Cairo.

"I only wanted to say that I am sorry," the girl whispers. "He…"

Jubilee looks at the girl, who's eyes are lowered, and it's a shame that none of them are brave enough to look at each other. "Was a total butthead," Jubilee says.

The girl smiles, and Jubilee considers it a special, personal victory, because it helps her smile, too. "I'm Jubilee." She sticks out her hand. 

The girl stares down at it and then hesitantly offers her hand. "I am Ororo."

"Nice to meet you."

~*~

It doesn't hit Jubilee until they land that home, as she knows it, is gone. The school blew up before any of this had even started. She almost starts crying on the spot, can feel the tears well up, even though she squeezes her eyes shut to stop them. Someone wraps an arm around her shoulders, and Jubilee opens one eye to see that it's Ororo. 

"This is so stupid," Jubilee mutters. 

"Grief is never stupid," Ororo says. 

It's so sincere and deep, and Ororo is so, so serious that Jubilee can't explain why she starts laughing. She laughs so hard that she hunches over, shoulders shaking for a different reason now. Her vision's still blurry with tears, but she feels like she's taken a step away from bawling her eyes out at least.

"I just…have nowhere else to go," Jubilee says, grateful she still has her yellow jacket. 

That's how she learns Ororo understands what it's like to be homeless, too. 

"We survived the end of the world," Ororo says. "We will survive this, too."

~*~

They are so lucky that Professor X is filthy rich, because he gets them all hotel rooms. He's not so filthy rich that they get their own rooms. Jubilee, Ororo, and Jean have to share, and Jubilee slides a look at Jean but doesn't argue. 

She calls dibs on the shower, though. 

When she stands under the hot spray of it, it is the best thing to have ever been invented _ever_. She tries not to hog it, but it's hard to step out. When she emerges from the bathroom, the bed looks like the next best invention ever, and she really wants to call dibs on one of them. 

She's about to when she notices Jean on the cot with her legs drawn up to her chest. 

"You're afraid of me," Jeans says, and then she looks at Jubilee. "Don't deny it."

"Well." Jubilee hops onto the bed, shooting a look at Ororo, who shakes her head. 

"I am not afraid," Ororo says. 

"I don't mean you." Jean nods toward Jubilee. 

"No duh," Jubilee says. "But you're wrong." 

She frowns, trying to figure out a way to say this, but then Jubilee remembers that Jean's a telepath, so she doesn't have to overthink what to say, because she can just think it instead. So she crosses her legs, looks at Jean, and it's hard not to think about Apocalypse, watching his skin burn away, knowing they all killed someone, even if he was a bad guy. 

Jubilee takes a deep breath and focuses. She thinks about them hanging out at the mall, getting Kurt to try ice cream for the first time, and the three of them pitching in to get him a much cooler red leather jacket. How they ate nachos and then bought big lollipops, because Kurt liked the colors. Jubilee reminds Jean about Scott's totally dumb jokes that they all laughed at anyway.

When Jean cracks a teensy smile and then even laughs, though it's more like a huff of breath, Jubilee grins, because she is totally winning at everything. 

"We got a chance to get to know each other better," Jubilee says. "So now I know there's a cool person under all that fire." She pauses for a sec and then looks at Jean. "But just like. Stay one of the good guys, okay?" She turns to face Ororo. "You, too. Deal?"

Jean looks at Ororo, who looks at Jean, and then they both look at Jubilee. "Deal," they say. 

Ororo heads to the bathroom, Jean lowers her legs, and Jubilee flops right onto her back on the bed. It's totally the _best_. 

"Scott's jokes were pretty dumb," Jean softly says. 

Jubilee laughs. "They totally were."

She's pretty sure they'll all be friends. They, like, saved the world together. How can they _not_ be?


End file.
